[429] Klutzy is Cute

console

< Piro >

"catering to complexity"

Saturday - June 28, 2003

Quite a few people are a little confused by today's comic, and I apologize for that - but that was actually part of the desired effect. Unless you have paid close attention to some of the hints in the past, and have some familiarity with MMPOG online games, what Miho is talking about goes right over your head. It will make more sense as the chapter progresses - it's hard to have one character surprise another and provide ALL the missing details all in one strip. Piro is, of course, reacting to things HE knows and connecting the dots in HIS head... and some of this information you, the reader, doesn't have. As for the face stabbing reference, I'll refer you to this strip. The rest I'll let you figure out yourselves :)

As for the accusation that I am catering to the people on the forums who like to speculate about some of the deeper story threads in Megatokyo - fft, gimmie a break. I'm catering to the some core elements of the story and to people who like to have things to discover as they read or re-read the story as a whole. MT is like a big onion, and onions have layers. :P

One of the neat things about a webcomic is that they are read in three ways - when you first arrive, you can go back and read all the back issues. By reading many strips at once, you can get a grasp of the whole story much easier. Then, after you are caught up, you read the strips as they come out. Its fun to watch a story unfold, but frustrating too - many of the strips are in the middle of a story arc, and you are left pondering what happens next in the days between strips. Most people find this fun, I think, but some find it frustrating ^^;; Then, the final way that a webcomic is read is when people go back and re-read strips that they had read as they were released, and are able to get the 'flow' of the strip as I intend them. The dynamics of webcomics are rather interesting, and the fact that the nature of reading them changes I think is one of the fun things to tinker with.

Got a lot going on today, I was going to write a longer rant, but this will do for now. LOTS of things coming up, so be sure to check the rant column this week. :)

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< Seraphim >

"Sad girl in Sand"

Monday - June 30, 2003

[Seraphim] - 09:55:00 - [link here]

I haven't been in the sun at all for the past two years. The doctors say something about auto-immunity disorders and the sun being bad. The past two years has been nothing but ankle length skirts, pants, sunscreen and hats. I felt guilty when the tops of my feet got tan when I wore sandals. Well, I have religiously stayed out of the sun for two years and it hasn't made me any better so I figured why not risk it? Besides, I always heard about the sun and Vitamin D and something about calcium absorption and not getting rickets. Life is all about the lesser of the evils.

Despite my mother being 100% Irish, I, thankfully, took after my dad's Slavic side and have a relatively dark complexion. Even with my complete abstinence from the sun I am darker than most people. Piro on the other hand is as pale as a newborn infant. Like using white shingles on a roof, I actually use Piro to reflect sunlight away from me he is so pale.

We leave for San Diego Comic-Con in two weeks and I need to make sure he is toughened up. I picture him arriving in California and stepping into the street and spontaneously combusting in the sunlight. I dragged him poolside for some Vitamin D. We stayed out reading in deck chairs. He is reading "Wind-up Bird Chronicle" and I read the "Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls" (expect a rant in the future about that). We were out about an hour. Oops. I have to say I have never seen a sunburn quite this color before. It must be the red of his skin and the fact you can see the bluish venous blood through his super pale skin making him so purplish. I have to say that I, on the other hand, look fabulous.

He has to get used to it anyways because once I am finished with my graduate degree in library science next year we are outta this cold climate. I have one more winter left in me and then I am finished. As much as I dread hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfire, mudslides, sink holes, and every other natural disaster that seems to befall more temperate climates - I dread Michigan winters more. Then there are Michigan summers which are just as humid, even during our numerous draughts, as other parts of the country that don't get snow. Michigan - the armpit of the Great Lakes.

Besides, I figure Piro is the stereotypical super geek who NEVER goes outside - what does it matter where he lives. All he needs is an internet connection to work. We could live in the tropics and if I put a picture of snow scenes in the window he would never know the difference. He doesn't do any winter sports and goes outside EVEN LESS (if that is possible) in the winter. Sorry guys, it is going to have to be 'Sad Girl in Sand' in the future.